By Order in Council, dated the 7th July 1874, a Silver Medal has been established for such Petty Officers and Seamen of the Royal Navy, and Non-commissioned Officers and Privates of Royal Marines, as may at any time distinguish themselves by acts of conspicuous gallantry in action with the enemy.

This Medal may, at the discretion of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, be accompanied by the grant of an annuity (not exceeding £20) in the cases of Chief and First-Class Petty Officers of the Navy and Sergeants of Royal Marines, provided the amount authorised from time to time for such annuities, by the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, is not exceeded.

As these rewards are intended for such men only as shall have rendered themselves individually conspicuous by some special act of pre-eminent gallantry in action with the enemy, great care is to be taken that the cases of the men recommended come strictly within the spirit of the Order in Council; and that the case of each man be accompanied by a full statement of the grounds on which his claim to this distinction is founded.